FQ VII

Chapter 1: The Cursed Child

A family saved, but a new evil found

30

OCT/14

Gathered together by unconventional circumstances, Gygax, Nel, Suyag and Morgana find themselves in the town of Helemborg. Apparently cursed by an evil child, the people ask for the assistance of the wary group of adventurers. To stop the child and prevent the rise of the draugr that curse their town.

it is soon found out that the child, Halera, is a half elf, her father being a troll. The town is cursed by her wicked grandmother, a hag by the name of Dybbik, and only Halera has the ability to weaken her curse.

The party soon finds a strange ritual underneath the church of the Allfather. Angus unwittingly releases whatever evil was sealed within and falls unconscious, after he tries to attack his comrades. Night has fallen and as the group returns to the town they feel a powerful evil from the blighted corn fields.

Heading to the city they confront the mayor of the town and the local priest, telling them all they know. The priest seems unwilling to believe any of this, still throwing blame at the Half elf and her mother. But as the party’s suspicions grow, a commotion is heard from outside. What they see is a gruesome sight.

Children wander the streets, attacking and murdering their parents. They carry bloody knives and farm implements off into the corn fields, in a daze like state. Everyone can feel a strong fearful presence around them, and ignoring the priest for now they head into the fields to deal with whatever is drawing out the children of Helemborg.

The pressence in the field grows stronger, and the group soon finds themselves separated in the thick fields. Suyag finds himself attacked by a scarecrow, posessed by whatever pressence had emerged from the church. Snakes pour from its eyes and it claws viciously at everyone before it is finally felled. The evil escapes from it and tries to assault them directly but is destroyed when it hits a barrier in front of them. behind them was Halera, holding her father’s skull. Whatever evil was controlling the children has been defeated. For now.

The next morning, the town is being stirred up into a mob. The hunter, Jorgen, aided by the priest are in the town square, calling for the burning of the halera and her mother. They claim that they are the reason for the blight and the evil, and that the party themsleves should not be trusted. Luckily, Morgana is able to throw up some strong arguments for them, and the crowd soon loses its blood lust. The mayor agrees, asking for them to find Dramira and bring her here to talk peacefully. To find out the truth about the hag.

The party notices both the priest and the hunter sneak off, defeated. They decide to follow them to find out as much they can. Suyag follows Jorgen, the hunter, but finds that he just returns to his forest home, dejected.

But as Nel and Gygax follow the priest, they find something much more dire. They find him sneak into the church and begin to cast some dark ritual, using his own blood, reading from an ancient book. They manage to sneak in and distract him, stealing the book and fleeing.

After returning to town Morgana recognizes the book as being written in troll, and being hag blood magic. They immediately chase after the priest and kill him, after he attacks them, spraying his on blood on Morgana.

The mayor looks over all this information, and after speaking with Dramira agrees to offer her his protection. He apologizes for what his priest has done and asks for the group to look into Dybbik and defeat her once and for all.